A camping/outdoors enthusiast. I love the city...but not nearly as much as I love the country. I enjoy a good restaurant (the most recent being Amada in Philly--most amazing tapas I've ever encountered), but I'm a sucker for a chilly, gray evening with music, wine, and a nice simmering soup. Ah. Yes. I am a big fan of learning different styles--I started off cooking your run-of-the-mill vegetarian and have moved into different cultural fusions with that. I love a good old fashioned stir-fry. Zucchini bread is a personal milestone. But, above all, I've got a rather nostalgically influenced palate. I love the cabin life, and as a result, I work hard to perfect my pie-iron meals, cast iron skills, and dutch oven confidence. Baked apples are always the easiest to make and biggest crowd pleaser. And, there's nothing like corn on the cob cooked straight in the coals of a warm bonfire. Well, my family is broadened to include my friends. We camp for two weeks every autumn in a secluded Adirondack cabin--no heat, no running water, no electricity. Bathe in the lake (water's a might bit cold in October), water pump outside, outhouse is a pure pleasure. All the cooking is on the fire or a small propane stove. The coleman stove is only broken out for the morning 32-cup percolator--no messing around with that. We need a strong cup first thing in the a.m.. The group fluctuates around 12. We each take a night to cook dinner--family meal every night at the oil lamp lit dining room table. We all sit down to tell stories of our day--hiking trips, art projects, wood chopping, cabin repair, etc. It is my tradition--all of our tradition--to cook authentically and with flare. It's always a duality of meat and vegetarian, because we bring a mix in the group. We've seen shepard's pie, palak paneer with grill cooked naan, calzones,vegetarian chili, countless homemade soups, et The triumph lies with the aforementioned cooking tradition and style. My personal camping triumphs include cornish pasties (with veggie alternative), a full mexican a la carte menu, lentil loaf, homemade zucchini soup with fresh bread and orange-honey butter (that was a lunch menu). We also have perfected pie iron egg sandwiches, crescent roll not dogs, squirrel tails (not for real--it is its own camping treat), fire baked apples, and dutch oven cinammon rolls. Oh dear. I've never had really severe tragedies, just near misses. I've made meals that I expected to be real heart-stoppers...and they've come out just mediocre. My friends are very gifted with culinary skill and it's a hard job just to keep up with them. I think it's why I turn to the camp cuisine so much--it's a niche that no one has filled. Only I could try...I'm the only one with the equipment and the homestead bonfire pit. And the cabin...for that matter. Here's to less tragedy and more triumph.